Issues and debates Flashcards
(36 cards)
Outline gender bias
Gender Bias is the tendency to treat a particular gender in a different way that may not justifiably represent their experience.
This can lead to differential treatment of the sexes based on stereotypes rather than real differences.
Outline androcentrism
A male-centred standpoint. This means that research is conducted mostly by males, using male participants, meaning that the male experience is set as the ‘normal’ standard of behaviour, and that if females show different behaviours they may be judged as abnormal.
Define universality
When a theory is universal, this means it is able to be applied to all people irrespective of gender, upbringing, culture etc: If psychology wants to be considered a scientific study of human behaviour, it should therefore be able to be applied to all people.
Define Alpha Bias
When differences are suggested to be real and enduring. This can lead to the value in the other gender being minimised.
Alpha bias research example
Wilson’s sociobiological theory of relationship formation. Men are biologically predetermined to try and promote the continuation of their genes, and thus try to sexually produce as much as possible in order to pass these genes on. Whereas, women’s best chances of preserving their genes is to protect the few offspring she has.
This notion suggests sexually promiscuous is genetically predetermined in males, where for women they would being going against their nature. These can lead to harmful stereotypes and the demonisation of women.
Freud argued that because girls do not suffer the same oedipal conflict as boys, they do not identify with their mothers as strongly as boys identify with their fathers, so develop weaker superegos and are thus, less moral.
Define beta bias
When differences are ignored or minimised. Typically in psychological research this happens when findings on male participants are generalised to females without additional validation.
Beta bias research examples
Early research on the fight or flight response was always done on male animals, due to fluctuating female hormones making research more difficult. As a result all findings have been applied to both genders, despite research showing females have biologically evolved to supress this response. Taylor has suggested in threatening situations, females have an adaptive “tend or befriend” approach. This is done by protecting their young and forming defensive networks with other females.
Asch’s research into conformity used all American male participants, yet the findings were generalised to women. Neto argues that women are more likely to conform and thus, the findings would be different.
Outline essentialism in reference to gender bias in psychology
Many of the gender differences reported by psychologist are based on an essentialist perspective that gender difference is inevitable and fixed in nature.
Essentialist accounts in psychology are often politically motivated arguments disguised as biological ‘facts’ which creates a double standard for the way the same behaviour is viewed from a male and female perspective .
For example, research in the 1930s suggested that women attending University may harm their ability to have children due to issues with their ovaries. These accounts are sometimes political arguments disguised as facts.
Outline reflectivity in psychological research
When potential beliefs and biases that could influence the findings of the research are highlighted. This enables conclusions to be understood in the context which shaped them.
Eg: When studying the lack of women in executive positions at accountancy firms, Dambrin and Lambert included a reflection on how their gender-related experiences influenced their readings of events. This can lead to greater awareness of the role of personal biases in shaping research in the future.
Discussion point one - gender bias
Consequence of beta bias
In a society which has one gender hold more power than the other, taking a neutral stance only further benefits men and has consequences for females. For example, equal parental leave arguably minimises the biological demands placed on a woman as a result of pregnancy, breastfeeding and childbirth.
Discussion point 2 gender bias - value of women
In attempts of countering the years of research which has minimised the value of women. Some psychologists attempt to develop theories
that emphasise the importance or value of women. Cornwell et al noted that females are better at learning, as they are more attentive and organised, thus
emphasising both the value and the positive attributes of
women.
Discussion point 3 - gender bias
challenging previous theories on gender.
One of the main limitations of psychological research is
that issues of gender bias often go unchallenged.
Darwin’s established theory of sexual selection suggests that women are selective in terms of
mate selection.
These views have only recently been challenged by DNA evidence suggesting that women are equally as competitive as men when the need arises.
This highlights the importance of continually challenging
earlier gender research, and reducing gender bias to
ensure that a valid picture of women is portrayed in
contemporary studies.
Discuss the main consequences of gender bias within psychological research.
Can result in misleading assumptions about female behaviour, fail to change negative stereotypes and validate discriminatory behaviour. May provide a scientific ‘justification’ to deny women opportunities in the workplace. THUS, gender bias is not just a methodological problem but can have damaging consequences which can affect the lives and prospects of real women.
There is a lack of women being appointed at senior researcher level, meaning female concerns may not be reflected in research questions.
Nicolson also outlined how female participants in laboratory experiments are at a disadvantage as are vulnerable to being labelled being unreasonable and irrational. These sexist views can be used as excuses to deny the inclusion of women within the psychological field.
Define culture bias
The tendency to view and interpret all phenomena through the lens of our own culture, ignoring the influences of cultural differences and how this can impact behaviour.
Outline culture bias within psychological research
Henrich found after reviewing 100s of psychological studies that 68% of participants came from the USA. This led him to coin the term “WEIRD” to describe the type of participants used in research; White, educated, industrialised, rich and democratic individuals.
Bond and Smith found when looking into social psychology textbooks, 98% of studies were either American or Western-European, leaving only the remaining 2% to come from other cultures.
Therefore, findings that are generalised to explain all human behaviour are coming from a select group of people.
Define ethnocentrism
When researchers see and judge and judge another culture by the standards and values of their own, presuming their own cultural norms set the standard for all behaviour. In extreme cases, ethnocentrism can lead to discrimination and prejudice.
Ainsworth’s “strange situation” is an example of ethnocentrism, using the standards of Western society to assess the behaviour of other cultures. The “ideal” attachment was suggested to be characterised by moderate levels of both stranger and separation anxiety.
This meant that when measuring attachment in other cultures, a disproportionate amount of children were classified as having insecure attachments due to not being measured against their own societal norms. For example, Takahashi found in Japan a large proportion of children were said to be insecure resistant due to extreme signs of separation anxiety and German infants were categorised as avoidant to due high levels of independence. These different results were presented as ‘abnormal’ and in need of explanation rather than considering that the differences are due to cultural differences in how children are raised.
For example, in Japan it is a rare occurrence for infants to be without their mother and so high levels of distress when she left the room was actually a reasonable response by Japanese standards.
Define etic and emic
Etic - is when behaviour is studied outside a culture and is described as universal and attempted to be generalised to all other cultures.
Imposed etic is when theories are considered to be universal based on emic research. Ainsworth’s study is an example of imposed etic.
Emic - when behaviour is approached within a culture and is identified as specific to that particular cultural context.
Outline cultural relativism
Research about behaviour can only be meaningful if it is understood within the specific cultural context it was drawn from.
Sternberg outlined how intelligence is perceived differently in differing societies and cultures. For example, motor skills and coordination may be valued more in pre-literate societies opposed to more developed cultures which value knowledge on various topics. Therefore, these differences show intelligence of a culture cannot be measured in a way which is not applicable to their own cultural context. This can result in invalid conclusions being drawn based on beliefs rather than factual content.
Discussion points of culture bias
Real life consequences - culture bias can be used to provide justifications of racist and discriminatory behaviour towards certain ethnic groups.
For example, during WW1 the US Army had over 2 million recruits complete an IQ test. Many of the components were ethnocentric and were tailored towards knowledge on American culture. This resulted in African-Americans and individuals from Eastern European cultures scoring significantly lower. However, this poor performance is more likely to be due to them not being assessed on knowledge specific to their own culture, rather than a lack of intelligence. However, these findings shaped by a culture bias were used to justify restricting certain ethnic groups from educational opportunities based on the grounds that they were deemed genetically inferior.
Culture bias can begin to be dealt with by first recognising it when it occurs - eg: Bond and Smith. Cross cultural replication studies benefit from promoting greater sensitivity to cultural relativism and challenging stereotypes. They are more likely to produce more valid conclusions as the findings are understood on the cultural context it has be drawn from.
Arguments that culture bias is no longer relevant in modern psychology. The increase in globalisation in media has been said to diminish the divide between cultures. Bond and Smith criticised Asch’s study for being culture bound; partipants were all American undergraduates yet conclusions drawn about conformity were generalised to everyone. However, Bond and Smith argued that collectivist cultures would see higher rates of conformity. However, Osaka found when comparing Japanese and American “Asch” like studies 14/15 of these showed no such individualist/collectivist divide. Therefore, suggesting culture is not as relevant of a factor on the influence of behaviour.
Eval 3: indigenous psychologies
The emphasis placed on the importance of culturally relative research and the increased awareness of cultural diversity, has led to the emergence of indigenous psychologies which attempt to develop theories drawn explicitly from the particular experiences of people within different cultural contexts.
One example is Afrocentrism which argues that as all black people have their roots originating from Africa, theories about them, must recognise the African context of attitudes and values. This contrasts other approaches which make universal descriptions of behaviour based on the values of European and Western norms.
As a result of these new approaches, psychological theories cannot only be more relevant to the lives of people in Africa, but can also offer people far removed from their African origins valuable insights into explanations of their behaviour.
Outline the debate of holism vs reductionism within psychology
When studying human behaviour, psychology must consider if it is more appropriate to break behaviour down into its component parts or look at the whole picture in its entirety.
Outline holism in psychology
Holistic approaches take into the account the whole of an individual and their experiences when making conclusions about their behvaiour.
For example, the humanism takes a holistic approach to explaining human behaviour; taking into account the entirety of an individual’s subjective experiences, feelings and perspectives before making conclusions about their behaviour. Because of this humanistic approaches use ideographic methods to study behaviour such as case studies in order to account for the unique context of an individual rather than making universal generalisations.
Outline reductionism in psychology
Reductionist approaches operate on the principles of parsimony and that the best explanations are the ones which are simplest and fit the evidence. Reductionist approaches therefore, study behaviour by breaking it down into its simplest components and then studying these empirically.
There are different types of reductionism with each isolating behaviour down to the component that underpins its approach. For example, biological reductionism is when behaviour is reduced down to solely physiological mechanisms and biological processes. Another example is environmental reductionism which argues all behaviour can be simplified down to stimulus response bonds learnt via experience.
Outline the levels of explanations within psychology
Differing approaches for explaining certain phenomena, from those at a more fundamental level and focussing on the basic components of something (biological level) to those at a higher more holistic and multivariable level (socio-cultural explanation)
